Automobile door locking means



Jan. 10, 1956 J. ROLANDO AUTOMOBILE DOOR LOCKING MEANS Filed July 12, 1954 INVENTOR. (Lu 6% BY ATTO quay United States Patent F AUTOMOBILE DOOR LOCKING MEANS John Rolando, Detroit, Mich.

Application July 12, 1954, Serial No. 442,782

1 Claim. (Cl. 292-305) This application relates to automobile door locking means particularly adapted for enabling a door to be locked from the outside without a key.

For some years past, many of the automobiles manufactured by General Motors Corporation have included in their door locking arrangements a push pull button'disposed and vertically movable in a small hole of a horizontal window rail of the door, with such button enabling the door to be locked from the outside without the use of akey.

On the other hand, automobiles produced in recent years by Ford Motor Company, while also including a push pull button also vertically disposed in a small hole of the horizontal window rail of the door, have been so designed in their locking means that in the event the push button is pushed down for door locking while the door isopen, the act of slamming the door shut from the outside causes the locking mechanism within the door under the rail to move to unlocking position and in so doing to move the button automatically upwardly out of locking position, leaving the door closed but unlocked. In these automobiles, therefore, locking of the door from the out side can be accomplished'only through the use of a key despite the presence of a push pull button disposed in the window rail as part of the locking means.

' This application specifically discloses a novel form of push pull button adapted for use with the locking arrangements of the current models of Ford automobiles and constructed to enable itself to remain in its down or door locking position when placed there, despite the slamming of the door shut, again moving the locking parts to locking position and thus enabling the door to be locked from the outside without the use of akey, in the same way that e; Gener l Mq or autom b les. y be locked- More specifically, this application discloses a replacement push pull button to replace the one presently used on Ford automobiles of current production and thus enable the door to be locked from the outside without a key.

For an understanding of the present invention, reference should be had to the appended drawing disclosing the novel form of push button.

In this drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of part of an automobile door showing a push button mounted in operating posi tion. a

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view showing the push button in elevation but disposed in cooperating position with other parts of the door locking means.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section view of the push button per se.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be observed that Figs. 1 and 2 show an automobile door locking arrangement comprising a door having a horizontal window rail 11 provided with an opening at 12 whose edge is lined by means of an annular thick heavy rubber grommet 14.

In the door behind the trim pad 15 on its inner surface,

2,730,395 Patented Jan. 10, 1956 and disposed under the rail 11 is the door locking means. The same is not shown here inasmuch as such means specifically forms no part of the present invention and is a means of which millions are in use in automobiles throughout the country. It is sufiicient to say that the door locking means is under the rail 11 and has among other parts a vertically extending shank part 16 disposed below the rail 11 but extending upwardly through the opening 12 central of the grommet 14 and formed with a threaded upper end.

The foregoing parts are conventional and it is also conventional to provide in combination with such parts a rodlike vertically disposed push pull button located in the opening 12 central of the grommet 14 and having its lower end telescoped over and threaded onto the upper end of the shank 16 and its upper end exposed and enlarged as a finger grip. I

This application relates specifically to a novel form of push button answering the foregoing description. Such push button is shown in the drawings and is referenced generally at 20 and comprises a hollow substantially cylindrical and vertically and centrally bored body 21 having an open lower end and an enlarged finger grip forming cap 22 closing the upper end of the central bore.

23 of'the body. The lower part of the bore 23 is smaller than the upper part and where the two parts of such bore intersect they define a shoulder 25 upon which may be loosely seated a nut 26 of non-circular external formation, preferably a typical hexagonal nut.

The lower end of the upper part of the bore is noncircularly formed, for example is hexagonally formed, as shown at 27 to provide a means for fixing the loosely seated nut 26 against rotation. The nut is internally threaded so as to thread upon the upper end of shank 16 over which the lower end of the body may be telescoped.

Between the nut'26 and the cap 22 there is provided a coiled compression spring 29 which, while permitting lost motion travel between .the body and the nut during operation of the device as will now be described, is itself a means for moving shank 16 downwardly when the latter is free to so move for locking action.

it will be noted that the body has an external taper 30 diminishing gradually in diameter towards its lower end for enabling a strong friction grip between the grommet and the body as the body is pushed down into the grommet for locking the door.

Assembly The assembly of the push button itself is a very simple marten A nut 26 is dropped into. the bore 23 lot the body 21 from the upper end of the body with the cap 22 removed and seats itself loosely on seat 25 in the hex bore part 27. Thereafter, the coil spring 29 is placed within the upper part of the bore on top of the nut 26 after which the cap 22 is placed on the upper end of the body. Preferably the cap after being placed there is permanently secured to the body as for example by cementing the cap to the body.

Use and operation When the push button 20 is threaded onto the upper end of the threaded shank 16 of the locking mechanism, replacing the conventional push button, the device is now ready for use and operates as follows.

The push button may be pushed down for compressing spring 29 and thus pushing shank 16 down for locking the locking mechanism in locking position. This may be done with the door open and when it is done the rubber grommet 14 will frictionally grip the body 21 to hold it in its down or locking position during the time the door is being slammed shut. The locking means is so constructed that the closing of the door will move the threaded shank 16 upwardly but due to the lost motion provided 3 within the push button, the body 21 will not move out of its lower position where it is frictionally held by the grommet 14. Instead, the upward movement of the shank 16 is taken up by compression of the spring 29.

After the door is closed, the shank 16 will be freed to move down to locking position, this being inherent in the locking mechanismprovided in the Ford automobile. The force for so moving shank 16 down is supplied by the then compressed spring 29 which will expand and move the freed shank 16 down again into locking position. During all this time, the body 21 is held down by the rubber grommet 14.

The operation terminates with the body 21 held down in locking position, and with the shank 16 down in locking position, and all this has been accomplished during the closing of the door and without the use of a key. In this way, the door can be locked from the outside without the use of a key.

The material of the edge of the hole 12 and of the body are selected with a view to desired friction between the body and the rail 11. While the body could be made of metal, and as shown in the drawing happens to be made of metal, it could very easily be made of plastic or fiber or rubber material so as to have a greater coefiicient of friction between itself and the hole 12 or the rubber grommet 14.

It will also be observed that there is no positive interlock between the body and the window rail 11, but that the only grip between these parts is the friction grip. This grip is adequate and intentionally provided for the pm I poses described. However, this grip can be overcome easily as for example by being pulled up manually to overcome the friction grip.

It will also be observed that in the event the window rail hole 12 does not have a rubber grommet, then the body may itself be made of high friction material such as rubber to grip the edge of the hole frictionally for the same purpose.

Essential to the operation is a grip between the body and the edge of the hole 12 plus the lost motion between the shank and the body and a force in the body for moving shank 16 down. The friction grip is provided in the manner described or in any alternative manner that can readily be provided. The lost motion is insured by the presence of the travel distance for the nut 26 into which the shank is threaded. The shank moving force is provided by the provision of the spring 29 for biasing the shank downwardly Without requiring movement of the body after the shank and nut have been moved up and are then freed to be moved down.

It will be understood that the spring 29 supplies the motive force for moving the shank 16 downwardly into locking position after the door is slammed shut provided the button 20 has previously been moved down into locking position.

It will also be observed that when the door is locked from the outside in the manner above described, it may be unlocked from the outside by means of a key in the ordinary way. The key will operate through the locking mechanism to raise the shank 16 and to move the locking mechanism to unlock position, permitting the door to be pulled open by pulling the door handle. After the door is opened and then slammed shut again, it will look again due to the action of the spring 29, unless the button 20 had meanwhile been pulled up manually.

It will also be observed that disabling of the spring 29 and thus preventing it from looking the door can be accomplished at any time simply by pulling up on the button 29 in the normal way.

Now having described the door locking means herein disclosed, reference should be had to the appended claim.

I claim:

A push button and holding means for a lock operating rod for a door lock for enabling the door to be locked from the outside comprising a horizontal window rail having an opening, a soft rubber grommet lining said opening, and a vertically extending shank below said rail extending upwardly through said opening central of said grommet and having a threaded upper end, a rod like vertically disposed push button in said opening central of said grommet and having its lower end telescoped over the upper end of the shank, and its upper end exposed as a finger grip, said button comprising a hollow substantially cylindrical vertically and axially centrally bored body having an open lower end and an enlarged finger grip forming cap closing the upper end of the bore, said bore having a shoulder between its ends, a nut seated on said shoulder, and formed to thread onto the upper end of the shank, the bore having means to fix said nut against rotation as it threads onto the shank, and a lost motion providing shank moving means in the form of a coiled compression spring between the nut and the cap, said body being dimensioned to fit snugly in said grommet and having an external taper diminishing gradually in diameter towards its lower end for establishing a friction grip between the soft rubber grommet and the tapered body as the body is pushed down into the grommet for locking the door.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,206,038 See Nov. 28, 1916 2,487,745 Witmer Nov. 8, 1949 2,676,479 Bethune Apr. 27, 1954 

